August 16, 2024 Hello , A city on the banks of the Mississippi in ancient times rivaled the populations of Paris and London and may have been the largest city in the world. Then it disappeared. Now scientists have discovered new clues to the mystery of its demise. And a bill in Congress backed by Democrats and Republicans... But first,
the story of a Ukrainian orphan girl who earned the title Hero of the Soviet Union for her bravery facing Hitler's invading army during WWII. She was inspired by a movie!
Young Woman Machine Gunner
When Hitler's army invaded Russia in 1941, 20-year-old Nina Andreyevna Onilova stood prepared and ready for action. She had been training as a machine gunner in her spare time!
Nina Andreyevna Onilova Nina was born to a peasant family in the village of Novo-Nikolayeva on the Crimean Peninsula during
the time Stalin ruled Russia with an iron fist. By age 11, both her parents had died, and she lived in an orphanage. But she had a big smile and was apparently an optimist, taking the attitude, “I have no family of my own, and therefore all the people are my family.” As a young teen, Nina went to work fulltime in a Communist textile factory, which must have been a difficult and dreary life. A night at the movies would surely have been a highlight. The night she saw the epic Soviet military movie Chapaev changed her life forever. The film released throughout the
Soviet bloc in 1934, tells a highly fictionalized story of Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev, a communist hero of the Russian Civil War. Thirteen-year-old Nina would have identified with the portrayal of peasants warring against the elite classes. Add to that, a groundbreaking leading lady, Anka, a formidable machine gunner.
Soviet Actress Varvara Myasnikova plays "Anka" in Chapaev (1934). In the film, Anka’s character, played by Soviet Actress Varvara Myasnikova wasn't glamours or mythic, but an ordinary girl taking on the rough life of a soldier. Initially, the men disparaged her, but Anka proved herself under fire and earned their respect. After seeing the film, Nina joined a paramilitary club, completing a machine gun training course with "excellent” marks. She joined the Red Army 1941, at age 20, becoming a field medic because the egalitarian ideals of Soviet society did not extend to women in combat positions. However, she was accepted in the 54th Rifle Division, Independent Coastal Army, that had been commanded by her Communist hero Chapaev, the protagonist of the film that inspired her. “What a joy it was for me!” She wrote later. As a medic during the Siege of Odessa in 1941, she happened to be near a machine gun when it jammed. Back home, she had practiced handling machine gun parts in her free time and was able to jump in and aid the crew. After clearing the jam, she took over the gun, firing on advancing German infantry. Her skill and quick action amazed the crew, and they invited her to become a gunner.
Nina Onilova in the Soviet Army, 1941. "I speak with the Nazis in the language of a machine gun." While serving in Odessa in September 1941, Nina sustained serious wounds, requiring two months convalescence in the hospital. When recovered, she rejoined her regiment, now defending Sevastopol the Russian's only warm water port and its stronghold on the Black Sea. From all accounts, Nina fought bravely on a par with the men. "... in appearance I am, of course, very weak, small, thin. But I will tell you the truth: my hand never wavered," Nina wrote. "At first, I was still afraid. And then it all went away... When you defend your dear, native land and your family, then you become very brave and do not understand what cowardice is..." In November 1941, the young woman was promoted to sergeant after crawling over open ground to destroy a German tank single-handedly, with two Molotov cocktails. For the feat, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner established to
honor great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society.
Remembered
as a great heroine in Russai, unfortunately, Nina Andreyevna Onilova's story didn't follow the script of the movie. In Chapaev, Anka alerts her division, to a
Nazi attack in time for a counterattack to succeed. In the battle of Sevastopol, after knocking out two Nazi machine gun nests, Nina remained the only one of her crew alive. She stayed at her post, providing cover for retreating Soviet forces. The last soldier standing, Nina was hit by an enemy mortar blast and fatally injured
February 28, 1942. Medics carried her to a field hospital where she got the best medical aid possible, but died March 8th, which happened to be Russia's International Women's Day. One of the last things Nina did before she died was write to the actress who played her movie heroine. “I am unfamiliar to you, comrade, and you will excuse me for this letter. But from the very beginning of the war, I wanted to write to you and get to know you. I know that you are not that Anka, not a real Chapaev machine-gunner. But you played like a real one, and I always envied you. I dreamed
of becoming a machine gunner and fighting bravely as well.” That she did. Nina meant to continue the letter, describing her wartime experiences, “I want to tell you in detail about my life,” she wrote. Her letter was left
unfinished, but her bravery not forgotten.
Clues Rule Out Cause of Disappearance
Nine
hundred years ago, a settlement of some 50,000 people thrived just across the Mississippi River from present-day St. Louis. The Cahokia Mounds metropolitan area featured complex roads, public plazas, and even an astronomical observatory. But the pre-Columbian site was practically deserted by 1400, leaving modern historians scratching their heads. What happened?
Overhead view of the Cahokia Mounds settlement by Bill Iseminger.
Image courtesy Cahokia
Mounds State Historic Site.
Some speculated a long period of drought caused crops to fail, forcing residents to leave Cokokia in search of food. However, researchers from the Washington University in St Louis say there's evidence Cahokians were skilled and resilient and adapted to climate change. Researchers
dug deep into the soil, collecting carbon atom signatures left behind by fossil plants. Drought-adapted plants carry a tell-tale carbon signature not found in food plants like squash, goosefoot, and sumpweed. “We saw no evidence that prairie grasses were taking over, which we would expect in a scenario where widespread crop failure was occurring,” Assistant Professor Natalie
Mueller said. This new bit of evidence rules out one theory but doesn't solve the mystery. Why did people leave the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico? It's likely complicated. “I don’t envision a scene where thousands of people were suddenly streaming
out of town,” Mueller says. “People probably just spread out to be near kin or to find different opportunities.”
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Sources https://artsci.wustl.edu/ampersand/new-study-adds-mystery-cahokia-exodus
First a Congressional Gold Medal. Now, a postage stamp? It's a bipartisan effort to honor Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley, an Ohioan who became the first black female officer in the U.S. Army’s Women’s Auxiliary Corps (WAC). Congressman Mike Turner (Republican) and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (Democrat), both from Ohio cosponsor House Resolution 1399 along with 25 other lawmakers ask that the USPS issue a commemorative stamp featuring Ohioan Adams Earley. I've written the full story of Lt. Col. Charity Adams' accomplishments during WWII in my recent book, Standing Up Against Hate.
“Lt. Col. Adams Earley laid the groundwork for today’s integrated military as the top-ranking
black woman officer and paved the way for black women in service,” said Rep. Beatty. “Adams Earley — whose bravery, dignity, and devotion to service is apparent in her service to the Army and to young Ohioans — is most deserving of this honor and commemoration.”
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